


Stop My Heart, Hope You Die

by IncurablePeppermint



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: College, F/F, Future Fic, Post-Canon, Post-Finale, Rated T for Janna saying the F word lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23166418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncurablePeppermint/pseuds/IncurablePeppermint
Summary: Janna settled on going to Tufferton University, enrolled in the Keats courses she had her heart set on, and did her best to avoid talking to Star Butterfly.
Relationships: Star Butterfly/Janna Ordonia
Comments: 22
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

“So, like. I didn’t _ not _ pick this college ‘cause she’s going here. I might as well admit it. I mean, since you’re being so persistent,” Janna drones. Her phone sits flipped open, set to speaker mode, on a picnic table. She lies on her belly on the hard plastic of the connected bench, with her face smushed into her backpack. “But they also have  _ great _ infrastructure. Pristine sidewalks. I haven’t seen an unfilled pot hole since I got here.”

“Okay, so first of all, I didn’t ask you why you were going to Tufferton U,” Marco’s voice chimes out from the phone. “I asked if you stole my new luggage set when you went.”

“Hard case luggage set?”

“Yes.”

“Three pieces, two checked bag, one carry on?”

“ _ Yes. _ ”

“Integrated wet pocket on the checked bag, all three have two wheels with three-sixty navigation? With a nice cactus flower print?”

“Janna.”

“I can’t say I’ve heard of a luggage set like that.”

“ _ Janna _ . I can afford new luggage. I just want to know if  _ you _ took it or _ I  _ misplaced it. It’s a big house. We just got in an exchange-student. It’s totally possible that my luggage is just hiding behind some boxes.”

“Well Marco, I’m legally required to say that I don’t know what a _ ‘luggage’ _ is. However I did borrow some items from your room meeting the previous description.”

“Oh my god. Okay, fine, sure.” A frustrated sigh escapes from her phone’s speaker, crackling a little with the effort. “I’ll order new luggage and just get express delivery to make sure I can get everything packed in time for my study abroad semester. No problem.”

“Yeah I don’t know why you have to tell me about your Amazebuy shopping plans, Marco.”

“Because  _ you’re _ why I have to- No. Nope. Forget it. How is Tufferton so far?”

“Oh, Marco. I can’t believe you care enough about me to ask. Truly I’m touched.”

“Janna, I am  _ so-o-o _ close to hanging up. I know deep in my gut that you have something you want to tell me. But I can and will leave you hanging.”

“Wow, okay. Rude.” Janna scoffs, pretending to be unaffected. But she sits up, more at attention. “It’s been fine. I managed to trick the registration staff into enrolling me in the same Keats class twice this semester with different professors. So I get double the poetry.”  
“Honestly that’s pretty impressive. I had to submit an essay on why I needed to take another general French course while abroad in France. I mean. Of course I do! I’d be in _France!_ My language retention would go way up while surrounded by native speakers and-”

“Hey, hey. This is about me.”

“Right. Keats. He died of tuberculosis, right?”

“That’s what they want you to think.”

“Of course you’d say that. I was going to ask if the tuberculosis thing was why you were into some old British poet, but apparently not.”

Janna scoffs. “Of course that’s not why. Do you think I’m  _ uncultured _ , Marco?”

“No!” He pauses. “Well, maybe. But mostly because you feed your garbage to raccoons and have stolen my social security card forty six times.”

“Forty seven times.”

“A-a-and. Yep. Not in my wallet anymore. Forty seven times. Okay. Marking a trip to the social security office on my calendar.”

“Charity and theft don’t make me uncultured. If anything, being so dynamic makes me  _ more _ cultured.”

“Okay, Janna. Let me try the more direct route. What did you mean you picked this college because  _ ‘she’s’  _ enrolled too.”

Janna throws her head back and groans loudly enough that a passing student flinches and looks over at her, worried. She waves her arms to shoo them off. “What are you looking at? Can’t a girl bemoan her existence in a public setting anymore? Beat it!” Once they’ve wandered far enough off to satisfy her, Janna pipes up again. “Listen, Marco. I know I said that, and I know I need to talk about it. But I don’t, like, _ want  _ to talk about it. Ya’ know?”

“Well. Just tell me who ‘she’ is.” Janna furrows her brow. She clicks the video button on the phone and a little shirtless Marco appears floating a few inches above the compact. He leans in close to an unseen mirror and slides a razor up his chin, finishing off a few stray hairs left after a shave. “Janna? You still there?” he asks, before turning to the phone, finally realizing he’s been put on video call. He lets out a little surprised squeal, then pulls up his towel to cover his chest. “Janna! I told you a million times to warn me before you do that!”

“And I told  _ you _ a million times that I will never warn you.” Marco grumbles into the phone at her response and tries to clean his face up a little. If Janna was calling from somewhere more private, he wouldn’t bother. She knows that from experience. But she has a habit of pulling this on him while outside, or sitting in the mall. “Did she really not tell you, Marco?”

“Did  _ who _ really not tell me?”

“Star. Star’s going here.”

He freezes, just for a moment. Then he rubs the back of his head awkwardly. “Well... No. I mean. I knew she was picking out colleges and-...” He moves out of range of the phone camera just long enough to toss on a shirt. “Listen, Janna. We broke up like two  _ years _ ago. She’s not gonna tell me  _ everything _ .”

“Okay but this is _ college,  _ it’s not like I’m asking if she told you what toilet paper brand she picked out this week.”

“I know, I know! But, you picked a college because your friend is there, there’s worse reasons. I don’t think it’s a  _ bad _ decision. If anything I think taking two of the same Keats class is the  _ real _ bad decision.”

“You’ll never understand me if you don’t understand my Keats decision.”

“Janna, I mean this with all due respect. I do not want to understand you  _ or _ Keats.”

“You disappoint me, Marco.”

“That’s not the problem then, huh?”

“No, no. That was all.”

“I do _ not  _ believe you but I also don’t want to keep pressing about it, so if you’re done telling me about your dead poet boyfriend I’d love to get back to packing.”

“Alright, you twisted my arm,” Janna quickly says, catching him before he can hang up on her. Marco smiles. She leans forward, resting her head on her hands so that she doesn’t have to face him while she talks. “I like... Wanted to see if she would... You know, hang out.”

“You wanted to hang out with Star?”

“No, not hang out.  _ Hang out. _ ”

“Janna please use any other words.”

“I think I just realized this was inappropriate to discuss with you.”

“I don’t see how it could be any more inappropriate than everything else you’ve ever said to me.”

“Okay, ouch. I mean you’re probably right, but still. Retract the claws.”

“You’re dodging again.”

“I wanna date Star, okay? I literally followed her to college. Oh my god.”

Janna doesn’t peek up at the video feed until she hears Marco laughing. “Is that it? You’ve done _ way  _ creepier stuff.  _ I’ve  _ done way creepier stuff. That’s _ it? _ ” 

“Don’t you downplay this! This is an out of state college, I didn’t need to go here!”

“Yeah but... I followed her to another  _ dimension _ . I really don’t think this is going to be a problem.”

Janna groans again, she picks up the phone and holds it up and out from her. She would grab his shoulders and shake him, hard, if he were in front of her. “Yes, you followed her to Mewni. But you were also _ fourteen _ and got to be a  _ knight _ in a _ magic world _ . I followed her to literally the most boring place possible. And I’ve just been avoiding her. I didn’t tell her I was going here too!”

“Oh, you didn’t? I’ll just text her and tell her that-”

“No! Diaz, I have a hair sample and I will curse you so hard.”

“Curse this,” he teases, sticking his tongue out at her.

“Marco you had better not,” Janna insists, despite him obviously typing away on his end. “What are you texting her?”

“Why do I have to tell you? You’ve probably bugged my phone anyway.”

“Of course I have, but it’s on a delay and I need to know _ now _ !”

“Well you- Wait you really did bug my phone? I knew it! That’s how you knew where to hide those skunks for prank month. Isn’t it?”

“That’s not important right now.”

“Oh, it’s gonna be important! Just wait until I trade out my phone in France. You won’t be able to spy on me there!”

“Marco if you think France is going to do anything other than make me more powerful, you’re wrong. Do I look like the kind of person who doesn’t have connections with mimes?”

“What kind of question is that?!”

“The kind with an obvious answer. Now tell me what you sent Star before I have to drive over there and kick your shins in person.”

“You just said you bugged my- Fine. Fine. I sent her a message saying I just found out you were both going to the same college. That’s all it was. Oh, she messaged back already?”

“Well, read it out.”

“It says, ‘Janna-Banana’s at TU? I bet she’s the one taking two of the Keats course, I heard a enrollment guy complaining about it lol’.”

“What kind of message is that?”

“Yeah, it should say ‘an enrollment’.”

“No! It doesn’t say anything about if she’s happy about it or if she thinks it’s weird. Does she think it’s weird?”

“You’re worried about Star thinking something you do is weird? Isn’t everything you do weird on purpose?”

“Marco I don’t know how to explain this to you, but I called you because I’m having a problem. This is exactly the problem.”

“Right, right. You should just text Star.”

“What? No. That would be weird.”

“Why?”

“If I text her  _ now  _ she’ll know you found out from  _ me _ we’re both going here. Then she’ll know that I knew she was here the whole time and just haven’t talked to her.”

“Right. I’m pretty sure it’s just you overthinking that much.”

“Marco be serious. She’d think exactly that and not talk to me again for a minimum of, like, three years.” Marco stares incredulously out from the projection. Then he shakes his head and picks up the phone and starts typing on it again. Little click-clacks resound from the phone speakers. “Hey, hey. You put me down right now. Stop typing.”

“You can curse me if you want, but I’m not gonna have you call me again and then listen to you analyze why you drinking past expiration orange juice is a sure sign that the stars are in retrograde and you should hold off on  _ talking _ to your  _ friend _ , Star.”

Janna glares into the phone. “You take those words back right now.”

“It actually worked out great that you put me on video, for once.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean, I just sent Star a text, telling her you’re hanging out in front of the Bassenwer Recreation building.”

Janna turns her head to glance at the metal sign affixed to the brick building a few feet away from the picnic area. She glares back at her phone. “You have made a powerful enemy today Marco Diaz.”

“I’m hoping your anger will abate by the time I get back from France.”

“It’s gonna expand, like bloated roadkill. And when you return-pop! Guts everywhere.”

“Uh-huh. Marco turns away from the screen to brush his teeth.

“You don’t take my threats seriously anymore, do you?”

“Oh, I take them seriously. I’m just making a valiant sacrifice.” Janna silently takes a second phone out of her backpack and starts typing on it. “What’s... Is that a burner phone?”

“Yep.”

“Are you... You’re not messaging a  _ hitman _ again, are you?”

“I don’t know Marco. I mean, what choice are you giving me here?”

“Janna if I have to fight and then bribe another hitman I’m going to block your number.”

“That’s okay, I was thinking about switching to all burners anyway.”

“You can’t send a hitman after me because you have a crush on Star!”

From behind her, Janna hears a cheery, sing-song voice call out to her. “Janna-Banana! Why didn’t you tell me you were going here? We could’ve been orientation buddies!”

Janna shoves the burner phone away and quickly mutters, “I’ll deal with  _ you  _ later,” to Marco before hanging up on him. “Star, sup?”

Star wraps her arms around Janna’s neck and squeezes her a little too tight. Janna doesn’t hug back, but leans in just enough to make it easier for Star. “ _ Ooh _ , I’ve missed everyone from Echo Creek so much. I wish I knew earlier you were out here too. Wait! No, no! This is  _ great _ timing. I wanted to try to set out all alone and I decided I didn’t like it but now you’re  _ here _ ! So I’m not alone, so I don’t have to worry about it!”

Janna shakes her head as Star finally lets go and takes a seat next to her. “I’m sure you’re doing fine on your own. You’re all... Cheery. And friendly. The junk that makes people comfortable with you.” Star grabs her necklace (pink silicone, unicorn shaped), moves it up to her mouth, and idly chews on it while she listens. “There’s no way you had problems making new friends.”

“Well, I didn’t really have  _ problems _ with that,” she mumbles out, talking through her necklace now. “But I dunno. It’s not the  _ same _ . I’d rather hang out with  _ you _ or Jackie and Chloe or...” She practically buzzes with excitement, then grabs one of Janna’s hands in both of hers. Janna bites the inside of her cheek. “I’m just soo happy to see you. No one I’ve met here wants to go on any adventures, even mundane Earth-y adventures. It’s all so...”

“Normal?”

“Yes! And that’s okay but-”

“There’s more out there and you wanna see it.”

“Right! You’re so-o-o insightful. When you’re not confusing.” 

“It’s the negative capacity.”

“The what now?”

“Forget it. You know I’m here now, so just hit me up when you want to like, figure out a way to bring back magic or whatever.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janna goes to the dump in search of treasure

_"Hit me up when you want to bring back magic, or whatever."_

Janna groans and once more replays the moment Star's face dropped. The way she awkwardly laughed, then made up a half-baked excuse to get away. Her absolute rush as she hurried off to, _apparently_ , “Water her cactus.” Not like Janna can blame her. She only brought up the biggest baggage Star has immediately upon seeing her. Way to fucking go Ordania.

Janna takes in a deep breath, trying to keep herself from stressing _too_ much over putting her foot so far in her mouth that her skirt brushed tenderly against her lips. She is unfortunately immediately reminded of exactly where she is by the foul stench she sucks up her nose. That is, a reeking, boring _dump._ She groans again. There's nothing _fun_ near TU. Well, nothing like the nonsense that surrounded Echo Creek, even before the Mewni-pocalypse. Like, what other town is a stone's throw away from both a monster truck graveyard _and_ a history of human organs museum? 

But _hopefully_ Janna can at least unearth something fun. Or useful. Or… _magic_. Okay, just the magic part, really. Yeah, obviously it was dumb and shitty of her to bring up right away and so flippantly, but Janna _is_ interested in bringing back magic with Star. Firstly, because magic is sick and she could have way more fun places to explore. Janna should definitely pick up a pair of those dimensional scissors for boring days like today. 

But secondly (and admittedly more importantly) Janna still remembers the look in Star's eyes the first time she went to cast a spell and couldn't. And the idea of Star's just-so-slightly crazed grin as she summons a wave of narwhals and muffins for the first time in _years_? The thought makes Janna feel a little fluttery inside.

"Ugh, too sappy. I'm gonna hurl," Janna complains to herself and any garbage flies that might hear her. She holds her gut and makes nasty gagging noises until the emerging butterflies in her stomach are forced away.Once she's satisfied with her little show Janna moves on to kicking a plastic box out from under a pile of garbage bags and loose furniture scraps. She pops open the lid with her face turned away. Just in case it's booby trapped (or like, just _really_ gross). 

It’s just old clothes, like thirty years ago old if the windbreaker on top says anything. Well, if it says anything other than, "put me out of my misery I'm covered in moth holes and mustard stains." She tosses it out of the box. Cat sweater. Ripped jeans. Well used bras. The husks of cockroaches past. Janna gives the box another kick once she’s sure there's nothing good inside of it. 

Janna is fucking _sure_ there's some filed away scrap of magic book or buried wand crystal or a really confused leprechaun _somewhere_. Because there's no way something or someone didn't escape Star's spell. And, obviously, Janna's the girl to find it. And not in a cheesy, dorky, " _Fate_ led _me_ to _your_ magic," kind of way. Even if that thought might have crossed her mind. And maybe more than once. Gag.

Janna's phone dings a few cutesy little notes, indicating a message from _Star_. Janna can imagine it now, "Thanks for everything but now that you dug up all my past trauma I'm just gonna take a gap year far away from you. See you never, have fun with Keats!". And it'll be filled with smiley faces and rainbow emojis. Well, _maybe_ that's not quite what Star would text. Except the emoji part.

After a bit of hesitation Janna goes ahead and flips her phone open. The message, just as imbued with little pink happy emojis as expected, reads, "Janna! Theres a poetry reading at Downser Hall 2morrow do u wnt2 go?" 

She lets out a relieved chuckle as she considers the invitation. Since Janna is so _thoroughly_ involved in the lit department, she's already beyond aware of the poetry reading. And even if she wasn't neck deep in lit classes, there's posters all over the place. It's a reading from last year's student literature magazine, so all amateurish or overwhelmingly sad. There's never any in-between with those things. "Wouldn't miss it," she taps back before clicking her phone shut and shoving it back down into her pocket.

Feeling invigorated, Janna turns her attention to a particularly nasty trash pile. "Alright buddy, are you hiding anything good," she asks the rotting garbage as she uses a broken chair leg to poke a particularly repugnant looking bit of old fruit.

As if actually responding, muffled by the pile, something gives a few apprehensive sounding beeps followed by a robotic voice saying, "Truth!" She glares at the pile for a moment, miffed. 

“Oh you _would_ be in there.” She pushes through despite the disgusting mess blocking the way, both annoyed and excited. Her first thought is Truth or Punishment, which would be a terrible shitty find. She might just leave it in the dump. But it doesn’t sound like that stupid box, it’s more… Feminine and robotic. After a lot of work and a lot of stench she tugs out a clear pink plastic toy. It was wrapped partially in a discarded sweater, saving it from the grossest parts of the pile. “Lucky,” Janna muses as she turns the thing over in her hand a few times.

"Truth!"

"It's too bad you're just a toy."

"Falsehood!"

Janna snorts. "Okay, okay. You're a _special_ toy I found at the dump. Is that better?"

"Falsehood!"

She rolls her eyes, "Alright, then what are you, huh?"

"Truth Teller! I cannot lie!"

Janna squints down at the device in her hands, having expected it to just drone off 'Truth' or 'Falsehood' again. She brings it closer to her face, inspecting the innards through its clear pink plastic shell. It doesn't _look_ magic. It looks like a gimmicky party game. But, to be fair, a lot of the magical stuff she’s encountered has been super marketable to pre-teens. Janna shrugs and starts her walk back towards campus, new plastic friend in hand. 

“Okay, Truth Teller. Tell me, buddy, are you a torture device?”

“Falsehood!”

“I guess we can wait to figure out what you are. Let’s test if you’re good at your job. Is my name Janna?”

“Truth!”

“Am I wearing underwear?”

“Truth!”

“Did I bribe an intern so I could take two Keats courses?”

“Falsehood!”

“Good catch. Bribes aren’t reliable. I work in threats and trades.”

“Truth!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Star and Janna attend the poetry reading.

The poetry reading at Downser hall is way worse than Janna was expecting. Well, more specifically, the current poem that has been going on forever is worse. The other stuff was amatuer but nothing to grind her teeth over. This is a  _ lot.  _ She turns her eyes from the stage to Star, checking on how she’s handling it. Star chews her necklace so hard Janna thinks maybe she'll bite right through the little pink unicorn.

The Sophomore on stage keeps performing as if he isn’t managing to drag the whole event to hell. He is absolutely oblivious to how bad his stuff is. Or maybe he knows and is just some kind of evil, vibe-killing genius. "Be as it may our hearts, hearts. Strung, but unstrung. Together, but apart," he enunciates his words carefully, without feeling. Janna shakes her head slowly. It’s a painful listen, faux-deep and unstructured.

Janna can tell from the way Star tugs and plays with the hem of her dress that she wants to get out of there. And Janna absolutely can’t blame her, this is way more brutal than Janna imagined it would be. Once the guy finally finishes it takes a few seconds for the crowd to work up enough golf-claps to count as awkward applause. Janna takes the opportunity to rescue Star, taking her wrist and tugging her out the nearest exit. 

Once they get outside and away from any stragglers trying to sneak into the reading late, Star breathes a sigh of relief. Janna hops up on a decorative brick fence. She snorts. “That was terrible.” Star lets her chew necklace drop from her mouth before giving Janna a stern pout.

“He was trying his best.”

“I really don’t think he was.”

Star contemplates this for a moment. She moves her lips side to side while she thinks, as if she’s swishing the statement around in her mouth to really get a feel for it. “It…  _ Did _ kind of sound like what I texted Jackie when I fell asleep with my face on the autofill button.” Janna laughs. Star lets just a little chuckle out too. “Okay, yeah. He didn’t try.  _ Ugh _ , that was awful.”

“Well, at least we got free snacks when we came in.”

“Yeah,  _ carrot sticks _ .”

“Eh, still free.” Janna pauses for a moment, then tugs her backpack off of her shoulders and into her lap. “Speaking of free, check out this weird thing I found in the dump.” Janna pulls the plastic little toy out of her bag. She knows she’s pushing it, again, trying to shove some potentially but probably not magical item on Star. But she’s been sitting on this plastic toy all day and she really wants to show it off.

“Oooh. It looks like those plug up games Marco hid in his attic.”

“ _ Yeah _ it does. It’s like… The earth version of truth or punishment. All truth, no punishment.”

Star grabs it from Janna and starts turning it around in her hands excitedly. “Aah, you can see all the inside bits! I love it!” As she’s flipping it around she inadvertently presses the large button on top. It beeps out a little start up song. “Oh! That’s so cute! Wait.” Star holds it out arms’ length away from her. “If it’s  _ not _ magic, how does it know if we’re lying?”

“I think it just guesses. Or maybe something with body heat? Didn’t exactly come with a manual.”

“Oooh,  _ mysterious _ . I like it.”

“Truth!”

“Ah! Janna, it  _ does _ know!” Star starts bouncing on her heels as she brings the toy back in closer to her face. Janna watches her with a little grin. “What do we ask it? Do you think it knows stuff we don’t?”

“Nah, I think it only knows if you’re lying. And maybe some stuff about itself? It answered some weird questions before.”

“Truth!”

“Well we have to test it, then! Mrs. Truth-machine? Is my name Starshine Sprinkledough?”

“False!”

Star gasps in awe. “Your Earth magic is so fun! And it didn’t turn me into a horrible frog creature for lying!" She pauses for just a moment to look over herself. "Yeah! Not a frog! Oh, what should we do with this? A sleepover? I haven't had a sleepover in so long!"

"Star, you had a sleepover for graduation."

"Yeah, like  _ five _ months ago."

Janna snorts, but doesn't argue. "Touche. Okay. But who do you want at your sleepover? I'm sure Amanda would make the trip if you asked, but I really don't think we could get Jackie or anyone to book it to T.U."

"Yeah, but you're here! And maybe Ponyhead is close by? I mean, she's still doing her tourist blog series so..."

"You haven't been watching her vlogs? Star, I'm disappointed."

"W-well… I've meant to, but…"

"I'm kidding Star.  _ But _ , I just so happen to know the last video she posted was titled 'Journey 2 Pixagra falls! Goes wrong'. So I'm pretty sure she's not anywhere near here."

"Darnit."

“Yeah, sleepover might have to wait. I’m sure we could get everyone together over winter break.”

“But we have this cool toy  _ now _ ,” Star whines, “No fair.”

“I’m sure I can keep up with it for a few months. Don’t worry.”

“Well, maybe. We can have a slumber party with just me and you, right?” 

“I don’t think my dorm mates would like that.”

“Well I’m in a single,  _ so… _ ”

“So you- Wait you’re in a single? What the hell, Star? I looked into those, they’re crazy expensive here.”

“Well I didn’t mind sharing, but I snore like… Really loud.”

“Heh, yeah. You do.”

“So mom said she wanted me to get a single so I wouldn’t bother my roommates with it and even though there’s not really a kingdom and there’s not really a princess or anything-”

“You still have princess money.”

“It took so long to convert the gems and gold coins into your weird human money. Like, we had paper money in mewni but yours is weird.”

“I apologize for how long it took to stash your vast riches.”

“You really should,” Star says with a little laugh, “They counted everything by hand.”

“How can I ever make up for this terrible misdead?”

“Come to my sleepover.”

“Okay, okay. Since I have to for the honor of my people. But  _ you _ are buying the snacks.”

“Deal.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Star Butterfly brings Janna up to her twinkling pillow fortress for a slumber party.

Janna checks her supplies one last time before she texts Star. Sleeping bag, check. Change of clothes, check. Possibly but probably not magical plastic truth telling device, check. She presses send on her text then fiddles with some pens on the DA’s desk. The DA eyes her suspiciously, but doesn’t object. At least not yet. She might object when she realizes Janna has already slipped a few tiny office supplies up her sleeves for later.

It takes no time for Star to bound out of the locked door to the dormitory. She’s already in a frilly, heart print nightgown. A plush-kitty sleep mask pushes her bangs back into little blonde devil horns. “Janna! _ Hi-i _ !” She bounces on her heels excitedly and shoves her student ID down on the check-in scanner. It gives a shrill beep in affirmation. “Ms. Brawne! I have a gu- _ uest,” _ Star announces in sing-song excitement.

“I can see that. Your full name, ma’am?”

“Janna Ordonia.”

“J… A… N…-”

Before the DA can finish confirming the spelling of Janna’s name, Star grab’s Janna’s arm and tugs her beyond the locked door. “Alright! Thanks Ms. Brawne! Have a good night!  _ Bye _ !” The DA reaches towards them for a moment, but then just shrugs it off. She seems to understand the futility of coming between Star and a slumber party. “I’m so excited to have you over, ah! This is gonna be so fun! I set up a pillow fort and I got fancy brownies and-”

“You didn’t uh…  _ Make _ the brownies, did you?”

“Pshh, no. I know my strengths and they are  _ not _ baking.”

“What are they, then?”

“Fort making. Swordplay. Getting just enough points on quizzes to make up for not doing homework.”

“Those  _ are _ what you need to make it in the business world today. I’m glad you thought ahead.”

“Thank you! I’m still not clear on _ all _ your Earth customs but from what I hear a lot of jobs are ‘cut-throat’, so it’s good Mewni prepared me!”

Janna grins as she’s tugged down halls and up stairs to Star’s third floor dorm. Every now and then she catches the words as Star keeps blabbing about how she thinks broadswords are the best way to deal with mean bosses. Something something, the difference between Earth-steel and Mewni-steel. Blah, blah, the right fabric to allow for pantsuit acrobatics. The explanation is off-the-wall and silly, but Janna just enjoys watching Star’s happy face as she talks about it.

“Oh! And I found a way to invite our friends!” 

“Huh..?”

Star shoves the door open to her room to reveal that she’s turned the  _ whole thing _ into a pillow fort. Sheets and twinkling lights are pinned to the ceiling and walls, opening only for the doors to the hallway and bathroom. The floor is absolutely coated in pillows, plush toys, and even cushy blankets. Sitting on a few side tables around the room (or Janna thinks they’re side tables, they blend in as towers in Star’s pillow castle) are a few tablets and Star’s phone. Shining on the screens are Jackie, Ponyhead, and (somewhat surprisingly) Marco. It seems like they’ve all been chatting away while Star ran down to grab her.

“Hey guys! Janna’s here!”

In not-quite-harmony, the screens call out, “Hi Janna!”

Ponyhead shoves her face closer to her webcam as if she’s trying to burst through it. “Gurrrl have you gotten  _ ripped _ ? Your arms are lookin’ _ thick _ !” Janna grins and shakes her sleeves empty for the crowd. Pens, pencils, and mini-notepads fall to the blanketed floor. “Oooh you a little  _ thief _ ! A  _ bad girl _ ! You keep that up and you’ll get sent  _ sta-raight _ to the slammer,” Ponyhead teases with a loud snort.

“Listen, I’m paying tuition. Tufferton can afford to reimburse me some pencils.”

Marco pipes in, “Normally I don’t approve of petty theft. Especially  _ your _ petty theft. But… Yeah, you get a pass for this one.”

Jackie clicks a few things together on her desk, hidden out of view of her webcam. “I…  _ Think _ all of my pens are stolen too. Just less on purpose. I really don’t remember buying these.”

Star moves a plate of nachos closer to Ponyhead’s screen. “Maybe, but that’s not important right now. Janna! Show them the _ thing _ !”

Janna plops onto a particularly cosy looking mound of cushions and reaches into her bag for her previously-buried plastic treasure. “Okay, okay. I’ll get the  _ thing _ . But I don’t know how well it’ll work for everyone on screens.” Despite this, Star tugs the tables and ‘guests’ in closer. She knocks a shameful amount of party cups to the ground in the process and almost hangs up on Marco by jostling her compact-phone closed. “I still think it just works with body temperature. That’s the running theory.”

“What _ is  _ it?” Marco asks, sounding just a  _ little _ horrified.

“Truth or Punishment. Without the Punishment.”

Ponyhead groans. “Aw,  _ weak _ ! What’s the point if it ain’t got the punishments? That’s the fun part!”

Star laughs and waves off the complaint, “Yeah it’s way fun with the punishment, but we can’t exactly get our hands on one of those right now. Maybe next time we can come up with some punishments before we play!”

Marco grimaces in the direction of the toy. “I dunno, guys. The last time we played this kind of game it went really bad. Like near-death-experience bad.”

Pony snorts, “Oh Marco. You’ve had tons of near-death-experience! We can make it through a long distance game of ‘truth and no punishment cause Earth is _ lame _ ’ without anyone kickin’ it.”

He shrugs. “I guess you’re right.”

Jackie laughs and leans in a little towards her screen to get a better view of the toy. “Yeah, it looks  _ way _ too intended for pre-teens to be deadly. Besides, it’ll be a good way to catch up since we’re all off doing our own thing right now. Too bad Amanda couldn’t make it, though. But I guess modding three forums at once is hard work. What is she working under now anyway? Was it…”

Star pipes in, “TowersFan13! She’s running the Love Sentence and Justin Towers fan forums.”

“What’s the third one?” Jackie asks.

“It’s MewniAnswers. It was more popular right after the Mewnipocolypse but now that most people are used to Mewnearth… It’s mostly people giving tips on taming dragoncycles and asking if pixies can _ actually _ curse you,” Star explains, “I used to help her with it, but she’s got a big enough collection of Mewni history books now she knows more than I do.” She snorts out a laugh. “But! We’ll just have  _ another _ sleepover later when she  _ can _ come!”

Ponyhead groans, “Yeah yeah, forums, technology, blah, blah, _ blech _ ! What’s important right now is we have a  _ spicy _ party game! Not as spicy as it should be, but I will take. What. I. Can. Get. Let’s turn your Earth game on, I wanna  _ play _ !” 

“Okay, okay,” Janna holds the ‘Truth Teller’ up in the direction of Ponyhead. “But it doesn’t have any questions loaded in it like the Mewni version, so we have to ask them ourselves.”

Star gives an excited little clap-giggle combo. “Ooh, ooh! I know! Ponyhead! Since you’ve been together for awhile.... Are you and Seahorse getting,” she pauses, looking around the room as if someone might listen in, “ _ serious? _ ”

“Oh I don’t know B-Fly. That is such a like super serious and personal question and I dunno if I should answer it-” She sticks her tongue out to reveal a pretty little ring, the gemstone shining in what Janna has come to figure out is ‘Ponyhead Color’. Janna’s amazed she hasn’t accidentally swallowed it. “ _ Sike _ ! We’re engaged, gurl!”

Janna presses the button on Truth Teller in Ponyhead’s stead, after a moment of beeping it rings out a robotic, “Truth!” There is a unified gasp across the room and screens before Star squeals in excitement.

“Oh my god, Ponyhead! You’re getting _ married _ ? Why didn’t you tell us before?”

“ _ Drama,” _ Ponyhead replies with her trademark ‘popstar’ pout. 

“That’s so  _ rad _ Ponyhead. Are you, like, gonna vlog it,” Jackie asks.

“Yeah gurl, that’s like… Half the point of getting married anyway! Making people  _ watch _ ! But! We are gettin’ back to this game. Ya’ll are gonna have to tune-in to my vlog if you wanna know more.” She darts her eyes around for a moment before settling on Marco and giving him a competitive glare. “Hey, Earth Turdina! I’m askin’ you a question next.”

Marco huffs. “Oh, so you think that  _ just _ because I’m still getting royalty checks from Turdina merch you have free reign to-”

“Yeah I do! And besides Marco, I’d call you a turd anyway,” she snorts out, “Now tell me what the grossest thing you’ve ever done is! Or I’m comin’ through this screen with my _ horn _ .” Ponyhead takes a few playful swipes at the air to emphasize her threat.

Marco grimaces. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, a move Janna knows is meant to jog his memory. Then, when it comes to him, he makes a face like spoilt milk. Oh, it’s gonna be good. “Uh… You guys know Jeremy?”

“That eight year old you have a rivalry with?” Star asks, innocent as can be.

“He’s not  _ still  _ eight! But, ugh… Yes. He used to do this ‘prank’ where he would mix up some rainbow stink concoction and glue a hundred dollar bill to the ground.” Everyone leans in, absolutely enraptured by the possibilities of this horrible story, Janna included. “And one time I was riding my bike in the park. And he had his butler throw a rock in my path and…” Marco looks like he could gag, “I landed on it. With my mouth open.”

“Oh Diaz that is  _ sick _ . I heard he makes that out of expired tapioca and fingerpaint,” Jackie says, laughing despite her concerned expression.

“I know it’s sick! It was in _ my _ mouth!”

Janna presses the button on the Truth Teller. It drones out a definitive, “Truth!”

Marco laughs a little, despite looking just a bit green in the gills after his story. “Okay, okay. Let’s see.” He looks around the room, though much less viciously than Ponyhead had. “Jackie. What’s the  _ worst  _ music you listen to?”

Jackie snorts at the question. “Okay, yeah. You know Mary Cherry? I own her christmas album. Objectively terrible.” She waves it off good-naturedly. Janna squints at her for a moment, then presses the button near the phone with her face. She has a feeling this isn’t quite it.

“Falsehood!”

“What I-... Ugh.. Okay, okay! It’s Little Hurry, that band from the kids show.”

“Truth!”

Star giggles. Marco furrows his brow at the Truth Teller. “That thing is really accurate for a toy. You’re sure there’s nothing weird about it, Janna?”

“Well Marco, I can’t be  _ totally _ sure. I’m the one who found it in the dump, after all.”

“Yeah that doesn’t make me trust it.”

Jackie shrugs. “Maybe it’s just getting lucky.” She stares Janna down with a playful grin. “Throwback time, Janna.” She starts mimicking the truth or punishment box (poorly), “Who do you… Have a… Crush... On?” 

Janna manages to keep a calm face while Marco’s eyes widen in anticipation. If it’s magic, then it’ll know. If it’s not magic then maybe she can force it to lie. Or just convince everyone it’s not telling the truth, since everyone heard her answer already (years ago, but still). It’s not a big deal, she can do this. 

“We all already know this one. Eighteenth century poet, John Keats.”

She presses the button.

“Falsehood!”

Marco butts in with excuses to cover. Unfortunately  _ he’s _ still a terrible and sweaty liar. “Well! Guess that Truth Teller is not so  _ truthful _ after all! I mean, we all know Janna is in _ two _ Keats classes right now. It would be crazy for her to do that if she didn’t have a huge embarrassing crush on him.” He gives a slight tug on the collar of his shirt. 

Ponyhead eyes him suspiciously, then faces Janna. “Oh, you’re lyin’. And he  _ knows _ .”

“What? Marco doesn’t _ lie _ ,” Star offers with a sweet laugh.

Ponyhead shakes her head (body) and grins. “No, we found something  _ spicy _ , I know it! Gurl you have to dish or I will come over there and make you, you hear me?” Janna feels a slight churn in her stomach. She tries to dismiss it as some bad burgers she ate earlier instead of the obvious, gooey truth. She’s still in control of the situation, she’s sure of it.

“Oh my god. Janna are you blushing? Jackie you broke Janna!” Star reaches over and takes Janna’s face between her hands, which does nothing for her stomach or embarrassment. It also thoroughly convinces Janna that she does  _ not _ have control of the situation.

“Ugh, guys it’s nothing! It really is Keats!”

Jackie doesn’t seem interested in pressing it, though she watches intently. Marco looks away from the screen in shame, which he deserves for having such a big fucking mouth. Janna makes a mental note to text Pierre later with instructions on heckling her favorite Diaz. Actually… Second favorite, after tonight. Ponyhead looks painfully smug.

“You and earth turd are dating, huh?”

“What, no!”

“She has hired a hitman on me more than once. We are  _ not _ dating.”

“Wait, you called a hit on Marco,” Jackie asks.

“Yeah, I was bored,” Janna says, defensively. Through all of this Star doesn’t let go of her face. Janna feels like she could hurl at any moment. Which, at least, would probably get her out of answering the question.

“Press the button then.”

Janna glares at Ponyhead for a moment, but relents. “I am not dating nor am I crushing on Marco.”

“Truth!”

“So it  _ does _ work, then! Who is it, is it someone we know?”

“What? No!”

Star, despite her usual charming loyalty, betrays Janna. She lets go of her face (thankfully) and snatches the Truth Teller out of her hands. Then she presses the button. After a few beeps that feel like a lifetime, Truth Teller rings out, “Falsehood!” This robotic declaration earns a unified gasp from everyone but Janna, who huffs.

“Star you have earned a powerful enemy this day.”

“I’m sorry Janna, I wanted to know! And… I’ve wanted to press the button all night.”

“Yeah Star, get it! We will get that juicy, _ juicy _ truth!”

“I’m telling you it’s Keats!”

“Falsehood!”

“You stay out of this, robot!”

Ponyhead grins devilishly and turns her attention to Marco. “Marco! Tell us who it is!”

“M-Me? I don’t know who it is!”

“Falsehood!”

“Is it one of  _ us _ ?” Ponyhead asks. Marco manages to keep his mouth shut for this one, so Star can’t test his answer. He makes a zipper motion with one extra sweaty hand. Ponyhead grins wide. “Oh it so is, that’s why you won’t answer.”

Star sets the Truth Teller next to Ponyhead’s tablet. “Okay, okay. I think we’re taking it too far. It’s supposed to be a fun game!”

Ponyhead rolls her eyes. “Ugh, I  _ guess.  _ It was just getting good though!”

Star looks at Janna for a moment, contemplating. Then she shoves her hand against Ponyhead’s tablet, “Oh no! An earthquake just big enough to ruin our internet connection! Aaah!” The screen reverts to a picture of a kitten as Star hangs up. “Ooooh no it’s still going! Ah!” She does the same to Jackie’s screen, then slams her phone shut on Marco. “A-and… There we go.”

It takes a beat for Janna to process all of that, but then she snorts. “You think they realized it wasn’t actually an internet earthquake?”

“No! It was the perfect cover.”

“You didn’t have to end your slumber party like that for me.”

Star leans back against a particularly large unicorn plush. She takes a plate of brownies into her lap and shoves one into her mouth. While chewing, she says, “Yeah, but I wanted to. It’s not any fun if you’re not having fun too.” She swallows. “Besides, when we played Truth or Punishment and almost got killed-”

“It was because you wouldn’t admit your crush on Marco.”

“Right.”

Star smiles, “But we can get out of this one without getting murdered by a cube.”

“Ponyhead might kill you later though.”

“Right… Any chance you’ll defend me?”

“Yeah. ‘Course, Star.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janna texts Marco in the aftermath of the virtual sleepover. Star wakes up with nachos in her hair.

Janna flips through a few apps on her phone while Star snores in a pile of pillows and half-eaten nachos. The new text icons shine bright at the top of Janna’s phone screen. She sighs and finally opens up the messenger app. As expected, the friends that were ejected from last night's virtual sleepover have been messaging her (and probably Star) to try to figure out what happened. She puts Pony's accusatory messages on read, sends a quick text to Jackie to let her know that she and Star are okay, then moves on to Marco’s apologetic messages. 

“Sorry Janna, I didn’t think Ponyhead would jump on that so hard. She’s feral when it comes to gossip.”

She shoots a text back.

“Just watch your back, Diaz.”

Janna's phone dings before she can close it. “Does Star suspect anything?”

She’s a little surprised to see a message so soon, before she realizes it’s not even midnight in France. She chuckles at the thought of Marco getting dressed in pajamas for Star’s video-conference-sleepover in the middle of the day. Her eyes wander over to the sleeping Princess for a moment while she contemplates Marco’s question.

_ Does  _ she suspect anything? She didn’t make it clear. Star, being Star, let Janna skate by without announcing the truth. She reaches over and brushes a tortilla chip out of Star’s hair. In response to the disturbance Star announces, “No more salsa, I'm soggy” in a sleepy mumble. Janna smiles down at her.

“No. She just wanted to get Ponyhead off my back.”

Janna flips her phone closed and shoves it into her pocket. She takes a moment to stare down Truth Teller. Really, the debacle wasn’t Marco’s fault (okay, it was a little Marco’s fault). It was her problem for bringing a (possibly, maybe magic) lie detector to a sleepover. Of course someone is gonna ask the obvious preteen questions, even if they’re all almost twenty now. That’s just how party games go. Glaring the whole time, she snatches Truth Teller from its pillowy perch. She shakes food crumbs off of it. Double checks that Star is still asleep.

"Are you... Magic?"

"Truth!"

Janna squints at the plastic device. Even if it's been creepily accurate, Truth Teller doesn't exactly scream Mewni. 

"Were you made on Earth?"

"Truth!"

Janna groans. She wishes she knew what to ask the damn thing. She wants to know more, to be in control of the situation. She wants to rip the magic out of the plastic pink shell and shove it into Star. She wants Star's eyes to light up as she looks at a glittering spell on her palms and then turn her eyes up to meet Janna's. And then, when their eyes meet...

"Janna-Banana...? What are you up to?"

Janna barely keeps her composure when she hears Star's voice. She gives a nervous cough before answering. "Trying to figure out if this thing's broken. How was sleeping in a bed of tortilla chips?"

"I dreamt I was a jalapeno slice."

"Ah, the American dream.”

Star reaches over and takes the Truth Teller. “Maybe this is more trouble than it’s worth…” She flips it over in her hands a few times before a plastic-y clink rings out from it. She brings it up closer to her face for inspection. “Oh, cute. There’s a little heart-y gemstone in there.”

“Gemstone?”

“Yeah, maybe we should just get that out of there and toss the thing. We could make it into a friendship bracelet or something.”

“Yeah, friendship bracelet…” Janna leans in close to get a better look. Now loose in the plastic shell is a little heart shaped gem with a gold rim about the bottom. Janna bites the inside of her cheek to keep the obvious out of her mouth. That thing looks like it fell right the fuck off of Star’s wand. Maybe it  _ did _ fall off of Star’s wand. That would be just the kind of ridiculous thing Janna would dig up.

“It looks really familiar actually. I bet I have a charm like it already, we should make you something with it!”

“No,” Janna says, just a little too quickly. “I mean, it’s not really my style. We’ll rip the guts out of that thing and I’ll make something out of the innards instead.”

Star snorts, “Yeah, that does sound more like you.”

“Ponyhead is gonna be pissed that we broke this, though.”

“Right… Maybe we can ‘accidentally’ break it.”

“That’s my girl.”

Star looks down at the toy for a moment in contemplation, then pitches it against the far wall. It breaks, of course. She pitches like a warrior princess. Star pumps her arm in victory. “Hoo! That felt good to do. Is throwing things therapeutic?” 

Janna gets up to inspect the wreckage. “From my experience? Yes. Just break junk against the wall whenever you have the opportunity.” She pulls out the little crystal carefully, then pockets a handful of Truth Teller shrapnel for later. She’ll  _ have _ to make it into something to cover for herself. Sounds fun anyway. “Here ya go, Star.” Janna drops the gemstone into Star’s open palm. Her eyes practically shimmer as she looks over it in wonder. 

“Do you think this powered it?”

“That? No way. I saw some coin cells in the wreckage.”

“Well what do you think it did, then? I’ve broken a lot of Earth things and I don’t remember seeing these in there.”

“Probably just a surprise toy in case you break it,” Janna lies, straight-faced. “Like those dog toys with a second dog toy inside.”

“Oh! That’s so cute.” Star starts to hold the heart up various places to gauge what it would best be made into. Up to her ear, neck, wrist, finger. “It’d be a really cool ring, I think. Maybe I’m just thinking about those because of Ponyhead’s engagement ring?” She holds her hand out towards Janna for approval, “What do you think?”

“If you can get that to stay on a ring it’d be sick. And it’d be… Very  _ Star _ of you.”

Star smiles warmly. “Alright, ring it is. Do you want to go to the cafeteria? I could use food that’s not uh... Been in my hair all night.”

“Yeah, I could use something other than nacho-brownie surprise.”

“Hey! I had those separate,  _ you _ put them together.”

“I didn’t say it was  _ bad _ , I just think my stomach is gonna stab me from the inside if I eat any more.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janna chats with Marco about her terrible, bad, not-good plan.

The tiny Marco floating above Janna’s compact-phone veers his head forward to try to get a better view of the situation. “You’re… Making a bracelet out of the Truth Teller thingie?” Janna rolls her eyes, then motions once more to the pile of broken plastic and electronic guts on the table in front of her.

“Yeah. And I’ve gotta do it or else Star’s gonna get suspicious. And that’s  _ your _ fault.”

“I’m not seeing the connection.”

Janna groans and splays herself out as much as she can in her rolling office chair. The dramatic action sends her spinning. “Just help me out with this, Diaz. I told her we’d do friendship bracelets. She’s gonna expect me decked out in Truth Teller corpse couture. And I know you took a jewelry making class last summer. I saw the matching earrings you made for Mariposa and Meteora.”

“That is _not_ the same thing. Those were made out of beads. This is… A bunch of trash.”

Janna glares at him for a moment, hoping to spook him into delivering aid. Then, defeated, she buries her face in her arms on the desk beside the compact. “It’s trash, you’re right.”

“Hey, no! It’s not…  _ Totally _ trash. You could… Glue it to a bracelet you already have. I’m sure that’ll work.”

“That’s not the problem. The bracelet isn’t the problem.”

“Are you gonna do that thing again where I have to threaten to hang up to get you to talk?”

Janna reluctantly looks up from her arms over at her compact. Marco doesn’t look annoyed at her this time. He looks worried, which she hates. “No, this one’s over my head for real.” She takes a breath to center herself, then closes her eyes. “I think I found a wand charger inside of Truth Teller and Star didn’t recognize it so I told her to keep it because I thought she’d maybe get powers again,” she blurts out.

Marco stares at her for a moment. “You  _ what _ ?” He starts his panic-pacing, his little hologram moving from one side of her compact to the other. “That’s not possible. You can’t have just  _ found _ magic after all that. They  _ destroyed _ it! Even  _ Glossaryck _ is gone.”

“Truth Teller was completely accurate, though. I think it got like that from the charger, like your old magic vacuum.”

“That’s crazy, that can’t be true. Are you just messing with me?”

“Look at me, Diaz. I’m the idiot who managed to fall into Mewni by mistake. If someone was going to hunt up magic…”

He stops his pacing just long enough to stare her down, gauging her sincerity. Then he starts it back up again, faster. “If you knew it was magic why didn’t you just  _ tell _ Star? She did so much to stop it in the first place. What if something happens again? What if it’s still corrupted?”

“I don’t know! I just-…”

“You need to tell her now! What if it works and she casts a spell by mistake? She could hurt someone!”

“I know, it’s just-…”

“She could set fire to your school, or turn someone into a goblin… Or what if Mina notices? She’s still out there! She could be spying on Star and-...”

“ _ Marco! _ ” Janna feels herself starting to panic more as he catastrophizes. He stops again and turns to look at her. Janna feels sick. “I just had this big, stupid plan, okay? I wanted her to get her magic back and realize why and then  _ love me back _ . I don’t know how to get out of this. I can’t just tell her.” She could punch herself for opening her mouth. But she could also punch herself for getting the idea in her head that she could just give Star  _ magic _ again and everything would be fine.

He purses his lips for a moment to think, then sighs. “Okay, yeah. Let’s… Make a plan. I’m sure we can get that charger back from her without letting her know what’s up.”

“Thanks, Marco.”

“Yeah, well… You said you _ lo-ove _ her and that’s the most open I’ve ever heard you be in your life. So I  _ have _ to help you as positive reinforcement.”

“I’ll give up this plot to come to France and push you down a well right now.”

“You won’t.” Marco grimaces at the pile of trashed Truth Teller. “We’re giving up on that bracelet thing though, right?”

“Yeah that’s a lost cause. I don’t know what made me think I could do anything with this.” Janna grabs her trash bin and sweeps all the detritus into it. “Any idea what we _ should _ do?”

There’s a ding on Marco’s end. He turns to check his laptop and sucks in a breath through his teeth. “Uh.. Well first we need to factor in one extra, _ little _ problem.” 

“Sure. What else could go wrong?”

“Ponyhead’s blog just updated. Her next big vlog is  _ apparently _ at Tufferton University.”

Janna nods before turning her face back into her arms. She muffles a frustrated scream. Of course, Ponyhead would be headed this way. And obviously she’s coming for the ‘drama’ of it. Why can’t she just elope for views like a normal vlogger? “Okay. So we’re on _ another _ time crunch. On top of Star maybe casting a spell or just figuring out what’s up.”

“Yeah, looks like it.”

“And we already don’t know what to do.”

“Unless you have an exact, non-magical duplicate of that charger. No.”

“Right.”

“Alright. So, the easiest for you to do is to steal it. Is it just sitting in her dorm or..?”

“You know how I said I had to make junk into a bracelet?”

“Yes?”

“It’s because she’s making it into something too.”

“Okay, that’s worse but not terrible. She’ll probably not wear it every day. Theft is still on the table.”

“Right.”

“I think that’s… Really all you can do.”

“I could’ve thought of that.”

Marco pauses for a moment, then says, “Okay, but if something goes wrong you’ll tell her what’s happening, right?” Janna’s gut twists. There’s about a million ways this could go wrong. “Not if you don’t manage to steal it the first try. Just in case of emergency.”

“Yeah, okay. If someone’s gonna like,  _ die _ , I guess I’ll go ahead and fess up.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [To Star.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29197398) by [AphantaRay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AphantaRay/pseuds/AphantaRay)




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